When it’s time to revamp your home’s look, interior painting might be the first thing on your mind. Indeed, applying a new coat of paint and changing up the colors can truly transform your home. However, there are many other ways to enhance your home’s aesthetic beyond just painting. For instance, you might invest in new windows and doors, install new flooring, or replace your cabinets. One of the more powerful yet overlooked home improvements, however, is crown molding installation. But what is crown molding, and is it right for your home improvements?

What are Crown Moldings?

There’s a good chance you’ve seen crown moldings before, even if you didn’t know their proper name. In the realm of home improvement, moldings refer to pieces of material (typically made of wood, plaster, or a composite) that decoratively conceal the lines formed when two surfaces meet, such as floors and walls or walls and ceilings. “Crown” refers to “head” or “top,” so crown moldings are those strips that go over the transitions between walls and ceilings or on top of objects like shelves and mantelpieces. Crown molding designs can vary, from simple to ornate.

Is Crown Molding Right for Your Home?

Crown molding isn’t entirely necessary from a functional standpoint, but it enhances the look of just about any home interior. Whether or not you invest in crown molding, then, is mostly a matter of preference. If you decide against crown molding for your rooms, they will appear more box-like with noticeable transitions between your walls and ceiling. This gap will be stand out even more if your walls and ceiling are painted different colors. Ask your interior painting contractors whether or not they think crown molding would be a good addition for a given room.

If you do decide to have crown molding installed in your home, you have plenty of options in terms of decoration. You may go for a simpler molding that merely conceals the seams and only protrudes a little bit. Or, you might want some added flair to spruce up your home’s aesthetic and complement your home painting. In that case, you can go for a multi-tiered molding that fans out further down the wall and across the ceiling. The most ornate crown moldings feature intricate artistic designs. These are often found in expensive homes and buildings built centuries ago, so they’re not the best fit for an elegant modern home aesthetic.

Additional Considerations

Of course, like any home improvement, crown molding costs something. It takes careful craftsmanship to create these moldings and proper technique to install them. If you’re planning on making several improvements to your home, such as residential painting, flooring, etc., you must consider how crown molding will fit into your budget. Costs will vary (between $500 and $4,000) depending on the type of molding, how much material is necessary, and which contractor you hire. As always, make sure you get a solid estimate before making this decision.

In short, crown molding is a great addition to just about every home interior, even if it’s not necessary. If you decide to have crown molding installed, hire an experienced, reliable provider for the best results. Better yet, hire a single company for all your home improvement needs. All American Painting Plus is more than just a painting service. The “Plus” in our name refers to our repair, maintenance, and home improvement work, including crown molding installation. To learn more about all that we can do for our clients in Northern Virginia, give us a call at (703)-620-5563!